FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HEAVIES - PAGE 5

Putting on its little-worn rock criticism hat, the Chinese government last week protested "Chinese Democracy," the newly released but 17-years-in-the-making LP from the band Guns N' Roses. An article in a state publication described the record as "venomously attacking" and "turn[ing] its spear point on China." It sounds like an extraordinary reaction, but if you look back in history, you can imagine how powerful forces would have quailed before the awesome potency of heavy-metal album titles: 'Painkiller,' Judas Priest A drug-company consortium led by Bayer called a news conference the week of the disc's 1990 release and asserted there is "no scientific proof that the music of Judas Priest will relieve any common headache symptoms" (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text)

President Barack Obama, who rescued health care reform from the brink of extinction by plunging into the debate with his own plan, is setting his sights on something even more daunting than corralling a herd of congressmen. He might try to jump-start Middle East negotiations by offering his own peace plan. Now that's the audacity of hope. On Thursday, King Abdullah II of Jordan visited the Tribune editorial board and offered a healthy perspective on this. In essence, he said the U.S. president's involvement is welcome but the responsibility for advancing peace terms falls squarely on the leaders in the Middle East.

Severe storms are hitting the Chicago area, bringing strong winds, 'heavy, heavy' rain, and hail, according to the National Weather Service. "We have a line of strong storms going east across McHenry County and into northern Kane county," said meteorologist Kevin Birk of the weather service at 11 a.m. They will make their way into "much of" Lake County and "far, far northern Cook County," by noon, he said. "There is heavy, heavy rain with these,"' said Birk, as well as high winds.

Q: I'd like to know how to treat and get rid of small warts on my feet and hands. My family physician has burned off several during the last year. But I keep getting more, especially on top of my feet and ankles. Over-the-counter treatments like Compound W don't seem to help. Any solutions? A: Warts usually are harmless and often disappear on their own, but they can be bothersome and embarrassing. Common warts are benign growths caused by a virus in the human papillomavirus (HPV)

The Brand New Heavies "GET USED TO IT" RATING: 3 SOUND LEVELS Twelve years after singer N'Dea Davenport recorded her last CD with the Brand New Heavies, she's back. And it's just like old times. Take that as a sad and a good thing. It's sad because this foursome still can't pen a weighty tune to save their lives. But again, we are talking about the Brand New Heavies. New songs "Sex God" and "Let's Do It Again" find them dispensing grooves like "Stay" and "Brother Sister."

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Chicago Cubs - INSIDE PITCH The Cubs are looking for a little something more out of the bottom of the rotation. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 starters Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza and Jeff Samardzija have been fine, combining for five of the six quality starts the staff has turned in so far. Over those starts, the top three were 3-1 with a 2.32 ERA. Now, the Cubs would like to get the Nos. 4 and 5 starters going. Chris Volstad hasn't been bad. He has a quality start to his credit, but lefty Paul Maholm is off to a rough start.

The National Weather Service issued thunderstorm warnings and watches as storms hit the Chicago area this evening. As a thunderstorm warning was issued for portions of Cook County tonight and a thunderstorm watch for most of northeast Illinois was extended to midnight. A storm dropped hail as large as 1-1/4 inches, hitting O'Hare and heading east through Park Ridge, Niles, Morton Grove and Glenview, as well as Northwest and North Side neighborhoods. In Niles, a weather service spotter reported half-dollar-sized hail and heavy rain resulting in 3 inches of standing rain in one parking lot in the northwest suburb this evening.

PARIS -- The Balkans are historically apart from Europe for two reasons, one religious and the other political. This has everything to do with the present crisis of Greece and the future of Greece's membership in -- or perhaps its departure from -- the European Union and its euro zone. To understand what is happening, it is necessary to understand something of the past. Geography and the Great Schism in the development of Christianity left all the Balkan peoples in the Orthodox half of the Christian world, separating them from the Western Europe of Roman Catholic and Protestant religion, the Renaissance and scientific revolution, from which the modern Enlightenment West has emerged.

By Homemaker shapes respect in an industry bent on competition and By Sue Masaracchia | May 16, 1993

Pat Biedar never expected to be in the sheet metal business. In fact, this Mt. Prospect homemaker, former travel agent and mother of three never expected to run any kind of company, let alone one that made phone booth casings, parts for tanks, trains and airplanes, enclosures for computers and other metal fabrications. Today, though, Biedar, 51, is president and CEO of Priority Manufacturing Company in Wood Dale, a company that grossed $3 million in sales in 1992 and expects to increase that by next year.

Could it be that House Speaker Michael Madigan is still smarting over the drubbing he took from Gov. Jim Edgar in state budget negotiations 10 months ago? That's one explanation for his decision to adopt the villain's role and plan up to $400 million in budget cuts beyond those already proposed by Edgar. There aren`t many other explanations that make sense. Maybe Madigan wanted to give his Democrats an early chance to vote against Edgar's proposals for tax hikes on alcohol and tobacco products.